Flat Aggie visits Uptown Farms!

Flat Aggie made a trip from Kansas to Brookfield, MO to spend some time with us here at Uptown Farms!  The day he was here was cold and wet, so it wasn't a great day to be outside.  And you can see from the picture below, the sheep agreed!

This is one of the many pastures that our sheep have access to all year. On days like this one however, the sheep prefer to be in their barns.  All of our sheep always have access to barns as well!

*PASTURE:  Fenced grass areas used for grazing livestock.  

Flat Aggie looking at one of our many pastures

Once we were closer to the barns, we did catch a few ewes and their lambs outside.  They quickly ran into the barn when they saw us coming- they probably assumed they were getting something to eat!

*EWE:  A female sheep
*LAMB:  A baby sheep, under the age of 1

Ewes and baby lambs running inside the lambing barn

The barn we spent the most time in was our lambing barn.  This is where most of the fun takes place this time of year.  "Lambing" is the process of the ewe having a baby and also generally refers to the time of year when ewes are having their lambs. 

At Uptown Farms we lamb from January - March each year.  During the winter months, because grass is not available, we feed hay and grain to our sheep.  Flat Aggie is pictured below by our big alfalfa bales.   The big bales of hay you see below weigh around 850 pounds!!

*Alfalfa:  A type of hay that provides nutrients to livestock  

Alfalfa hay -- these big bales weight around 850 pounds each!

Inside the lambing barn are three main areas.  One is an area we call a "drop pen".  This is where all of the mammas (ewes) that are pregnant hang out until they lamb.

Even when we know they are close, we do not pull them away from the flock.  This would make them nervous and might actually cause them to delay lambing. Instead, we check them frequently by going into the barns or using our wireless cameras-- we can look into our barn from anywhere in the world by just looking on our cell phones!!

Below the ewes are lined up in the drop pen, eating their dinner (alfalfa!).   
*Flock:  A group of sheep

Flat Aggie looking over the drop pen while the ewes eat their dinner

Once the ewe has her lambs (we always hope for twins and sometimes even get triplets), she is moved into a lambing jug.  A jug is a small pen where just the mamma and her lambs will be.

They will spend a few days inside these pens to make sure they bond.  Mamma and babies will tell each apart by smell, so having a few days alone together helps them to remember each other better!  

In the corner of each lambing jug is an area separated off by a piece of wood.  The lamb can easily get into this area that has a fresh piece of carpet for each new baby and a lower hanging lamp.  The lamp provides a little added warmth for the first few days.  Sometimes it can be really cold lambing in January or February! 

Flat Aggie looking at the lambing pens

Flat Aggie inside a lambing pen with a 1 day old lamb

After spending a few days in a lambing jug, the lambs get "processed".  This means they get their vaccinations and an ear tag to identify who they are.  Each lamb gets his own unique number.  The lamb above is a ram lamb -- or a boy!  Girl lambs are called ewe lambs. 

*Ram Lamb:  A boy lamb
*Ewe Lamb:  A girl lamb


After being processed, the mamma and her babies are turned out into a larger pen with other lambs of similar ages.  They will spend the next few months with these groups of lambs before being weaned from their mothers.  

*Weaning:  The time period when baby animals are old enough to be removed from their mothers

One of the pens of ewes and their babies

In this picture the ewes are eating their dinner. This is a fun time to watch the baby lambs because they often run around and play while their mothers eat!

For more information on the Flat Aggie project, or to see Flat Aggie's other travels, please visit :

http://talesofakansasfarmmom.blogspot.com/p/flat-aggie.html